In March 2013, the federalcourt of Australia made orders to appointRobertGraham Killer of Grant Thornton and Michael GerrardMcCann as the joint provisional liquidators to MOGSLtd.
Thain also leapfrogged over insiders who had been considered candidates, including Greg Fleming, an investment banker who is Merrill's co-president, and RobertMcCann, the head of its brokerage division.
Run by Merrill veteran RobertMcCann, a onetime trader who clashed with O'Neal and left for a spell in 2003, the retail group has a 26% pretax margin and earns a healthy 30%-plus return on equity.